The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #174257 Message #4227018
Posted By: Charley Noble
11-Aug-25 - 03:47 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Master, The Swabber, The Boatswain & I
Subject: Lyr Add: Master, The Swabber, The Boatswain & I
This was a top hit in the first production of The Tempest" by William Shakespeare in 1611. I've done some editing and added refrains and a new verse but the original lyrics are also posted:
From The Tempest by William Shakespeare, as sung by Stephano, 1611 Adapted by Charlie Ipcar, 7/31/2025; tune after "The Mariner's Compass is Grog" Key: G (7/C)
The Master, The Swabber, The Bosun, And I
C----------------------------------G7 The master, the swabber, the bosun, and I, ------C--------------------F---C--G The gunner, the cook, and the mate, ---------C-----------------------G7 Loved Molly, and Meg, and Margery, -------C----------G----------C But none of us cared for Kate.
C------------------------F---------C None of us cared for Kate, me lads! --------F-C---------F/C-G None of us cared for Kate! ---------C-----------------------G7 Loved Molly, and Meg, and Margery, -------C----------G----------C But none of us cared for Kate.
Kate loved not the savour of tar nor pitch; And she had a tongue with a tang; Yet a tailor might scratch her where’er she did itch, But she'd cry to a sailor, "Go hang!"
She'd cry to a sailor, "Go hang!" me lads! She'd cry to a sailor, "Go hang!" Yet a tailor might scratch her where’er she did itch, But she'd cry to a sailor, "Go hang!"
So Molly, and Meg, and Margery, We’re off to sea once more; And it will be a long, long time Till we return to your shore.
Till we return to your shore, me loves, Till we return to your shore; And it will be a long, long time Till we return to your shore.
Original Lyrics:
The master, the swabber, the boatswain, and I, The gunner, and his mate, Loved Mall, Meg, and Marian, and Margery, But none of us cared for Kate; For she has a tongue with a tang, Would cry to a sailor, Go hang! She loved not the savour of tar nor of pitch; Yet a tailor might scratch her where’er she did itch.